Ching-Chi Chang (Amanda), is a student ambassador for the College of Engineering, and, currently a student of Information System program (Seattle Campus). She got her 2018 Software Engineer summer internship offer from Nordstrom, and now she is here to share her experience about how to prepare for internship hunting.
What did you do before start apply internship?
Before I applied for my internship, I reached out to a career coach at NEU Seattle and IS Co-op teacher to polish my resume, which was a really helpful and great experience. We talked about what kind of job I’m looking for, and what is my background, and my previous working experience before they led me to polish my resume. NEU faculty also took a professional head shot of me for my linked profile picture that made my LinkedIn profile look more professional.
When did you start finding your Summer internship 2018?
I started finding my internship around September 2017. During that period, I saw most companies listing for summer 2018 internship, but some of them also listing for spring 2018 internship, I tried to apply for both.
How did you apply for those internships?
First, Seattle campus was hosting a Career fair on September 2017, I started sending out my resume since then. Second, I used NEU career database to search for software engineer internships. Then, I was browsing the companies’ websites to see if they were offering any intern positions I was interested in and applied directly through their websites. I also went to GHC women in tech career fair.
How did you prepare for career fair?
I was wearing business casual outfit with my printed out resumes for every career fair. Before I went to career fair, I checked the company lists to see how many resumes I needed to print out and checked the companies’ websites to know them well. During the career fair, I spent around one minute to introduce myself for each company and let them know which position I was looking for. Some of them took my resume right away, some of them gave me an informational flyer and asked me to apply for the position directly through their website. I always listened carefully for all the information, such as when I could apply (some positions weren’t released yet during career fairs), and where I needed to apply. After all the talk, I tried to ask if I could have the recruiter’s email, LinkedIn, or business card for following up.
How did you prepare for interviews?
First, I have done lots of technical projects and practiced technical interview questions for software engineering positions. Besides professional skills, I did practice my English communication skills a lot to make sure I can communicate with the interviewer fluently. Then I reviewed my resume carefully to make sure I can answer all parts of my resume well, such as understand how to explain the projects I had listed and how the courses I had taken relate to the interview position.
Any recommendations for students before the end of this interview?
Don’t be afraid to make your first step to apply for a job. It is important to practice your communication skills in English if you are not a native English speaker. Don’t make interviewers have a hard time to understand what you say.
About the Author…
Ching-Chi “Amanda” Chang is from Hsinchu, Taiwan. She joined Northeastern University –Seattle in Spring 2017 for Master’s in information system. Ching-Chi have 4 years’ job experience as a quality engineer at UTAC. She displayed both engineering and management skills. She was in charge of gathering client requirements and managing quality control process of microchips. She would like to be a software engineer after graduate, and she believe Northeastern University is the best place to learn all the professional skills and driving her passion to study on them. She is happy to help new/prospective students to answer any questions regarding the course structure, working experience and school life.
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